Electrical Responsbility

[joesmoe2012]

Okay, so the other day we burnt down the line from the power company to our house.


Today we have tripped some fuse in a transformer "can" somewhere 3 times resulting in about 150 houses being without electricity.


The linemen stopped by my place in their big truck to discuss the issue with me, telling me that they need 3 times the capacity at the transformer in order for me to pull so many amps.


Who's responsibility is the transformer? Isn't that the power companies not mine?


They said if i blow the fuse again they won't be back until morning. This is in CO, USA with excel energy.

[pjviitas]

It is the customers responsibility to inform the power utility if their power requirements exceed that of a typical residence.

I run into this problem all the time at work with grow ops.

[pjviitas]

It is the customers responsibility to inform the power utility if their power requirements exceed that of a typical residence.

I run into this problem all the time at work with grow ops.

And BTW any increase in transformer size should be on your dime.

[joesmoe2012]

I've already requested additional power from them, but they are taking their sweet time. If the transformer serves dozens or hundreds of houses, why would that be my responsibility?

[pjviitas]

I've already requested additional power from them, but they are taking their sweet time. If the transformer serves dozens or hundreds of houses, why would that be my responsibility?

Running bitcoin miners is not considered normal load growth

[rhj12345]

Who's responsibility is the transformer? Isn't that the power companies not mine?

They said if i blow the fuse again they won't be back until morning. This is in CO, USA with excel energy.

DON'T give in to them! I live in Colorado (Arvada) they tried to make me pay to move a line that had been connected to my garage 10 years BEFORE I bought the house. They came out, put in a new pole, moved the line and tried to stick me with an $1800 bill. Fricken pound sand Xcel Energy!!!

I called the Public Utilities Commission, super nice lady, told me to write them (P.U.C.) a letter. In just two weeks I got a nice little letter back from Xcel stating they were sorry for the error in judgement and I would NOT have to pay the $1800.

So fight it!! You are paying your bill every month so they can just pony up the money and build out what you need to support your mining business.

Hope this helps.

Rob

[Prelude]

How many AMPs are you pulling? Do you have a standard 200A service?

I doubt they will want to upgrade hardware on their dime, you aren't a typical customer. If you were to move they would have over built, under utilized infrastructure. Time to look into commercial/industrial locals.

[pjviitas]

How many AMPs are you pulling? Do you have a standard 200A service?

I doubt they will want to upgrade hardware on their dime, you aren't a typical customer. If you were to move they would have over built, under utilized infrastructure. Time to look into commercial/industrial locals.

+1

[philipma1957]

How many AMPs are you pulling? Do you have a standard 200A service?

I doubt they will want to upgrade hardware on their dime, you aren't a typical customer. If you were to move they would have over built, under utilized infrastructure. Time to look into commercial/industrial locals.

if you have city approved permitted 200 amp service    you are entitled to use it.

 now   following the  very conservative 75% constant run safety margin you are allowed to pull  150 amps 24/7/365.  that would be 18000 watts non stop.

of course your problem may be the city/town did not permit 200 amp service or you may draw more then 150/200 amps.

good luck fighting them.

put another way " if you are using under 75% of your permitted  amp rating 24/7/365  you should be allowed to get that.  "

 Ask the power company to show you in writing that the statement above is wrong.  if you are in an area wide power shortage  brownout they can shut you down.

 but in non emergency conditions  they should be required to provide what your city/town  permit rates your home for.   

My home has 150 amp 220 volt service  which is split into 2 110 volt rails.  other then one 40 amp fuse for my ac at 220 volt.

I run 6000 watts 24/7/365 for mining in the winter and about 2300 watts in the summer

[pjviitas]

How many AMPs are you pulling? Do you have a standard 200A service?

I doubt they will want to upgrade hardware on their dime, you aren't a typical customer. If you were to move they would have over built, under utilized infrastructure. Time to look into commercial/industrial locals.

if you have city approved permitted 200 amp service    you are entitled to use it.

 now   following the  very conservative 75% constant run safety margin you are allowed to pull  150 amps 24/7/365.  that would be 18000 watts non stop.

of course your problem may be the city/town did not permit 200 amp service or you may draw more then 150/200 amps.

good luck fighting them.

put another way " if you are using under 75% of your permitted  amp rating 24/7/365  you should be allowed to get that.  "

 Ask the power company to show you in writing that the statement above is wrong.  if you are in an area wide power shortage  brownout they can shut you down.

 but in non emergency conditions  they should be required to provide what your city/town  permit rates your home for.   

My home has 150 amp 220 volt service  which is split into 2 110 volt rails.  other then one 40 amp fuse for my ac at 220 volt.

I run 6000 watts 24/7/365 for mining in the winter and about 2300 watts in the summer

To begin with, your service size (main disconnect rating in your home) and power availability (transformer capacity) are two completely different things.

The service in your home is governed by the safety authority (electrical inspector)

The transformer capacity is governed by the power utility (power commission)

What the OP is talking about is power availability.

The power utility is only obligated to provide power quantities based on decades of data or in other words "typical" power quantities.
-For a gas heated home this is between 3-5kW
-For an electric heated home this is between 5-8kW

If you are running enough equipment to burn down service wire then you are playing a dangerous game which may end up in any of the following scenarios:
1. Burning down your home
2. Being paid a visit by the local electrical inspector
3. Unforseen costs from the power utility

I would take the advice of one of the other posters and apply for a service alteration to heavy up your service.

Please be advised that it won't be cheap.

[lightfoot]

Agreed. If you burned down your house wire then either the utility is nuts or you are pulling way more current than the line is designed for. Power factor may be an issue here, but that's your problem, get a big bank of caps.

Overall the utility should provide the power they agreed to provide to your house. If you have 60a service and have hot-wired 200+ amps of miners then you should pay. No free lunch here, and as a libertarian myself you should be happy to pay for what you use.

C

[fattypig]

Okay, so the other day we burnt down the line from the power company to our house.


Today we have tripped some fuse in a transformer "can" somewhere 3 times resulting in about 150 houses being without electricity.


The linemen stopped by my place in their big truck to discuss the issue with me, telling me that they need 3 times the capacity at the transformer in order for me to pull so many amps.


Who's responsibility is the transformer? Isn't that the power companies not mine?


They said if i blow the fuse again they won't be back until morning. This is in CO, USA with excel energy.

How much power you are using?

[BSIG]

In rural areas, the transformer capacity upgrade is the end line customers responsibility. In areas with 25+k population, the energy company does it for almost zero cost.

[haploid23]

joesmoe2012, lets look at it from another perspective: a lot of people in your neighborhood were heavy miners, and you were one of the few that didn't mine. Not only do you constantly not have power, but now the power company is making you pitch in to pay for an upgraded transformer, even though you had nothing to do with it.

Do you think this is fair? Or should all the miners be responsible for the upgrading cost?

[whtchocla7e]

You're lucky I'm not your neighbor. 

[joesmoe2012]

I live in a duplex with 2x200 amp meters. The line going from these two meters to the utility company is only 106 amps.

The engineer paid me a visit today and let me know that I'm using the equivalent of 10 of my neighbors. There are 12 houses on the closest transformer and i'm using 90% of it 24/7.

This is a bunch of bs.

They should charge whatever necessary in order to maintain their infrastructure.

They want $15k to upgrade it now.

[pjviitas]

I live in a duplex with 2x200 amp meters. The line going from these two meters to the utility company is only 106 amps.

The engineer paid me a visit today and let me know that I'm using the equivalent of 10 of my neighbors. There are 12 houses on the closest transformer and i'm using 90% of it 24/7.

This is a bunch of bs.

They should charge whatever necessary in order to maintain their infrastructure.

They want $15k to upgrade it now.

If they had to put in a 50kVA transformer for every single 200A service then nobody could afford the infrastructure.

Residential power use is based on decades of data.

If you need more power then you will need to pay for upgrades.

All of these concepts are laid out by the power commission setting the rates in your area.

[Omikifuse]

Ask them to offer a cheaper electricity rate if you pay for the upgrade... Might be worth while

[ZiG]

I live in a duplex with 2x200 amp meters. The line going from these two meters to the utility company is only 106 amps.

The engineer paid me a visit today and let me know that I'm using the equivalent of 10 of my neighbors. There are 12 houses on the closest transformer and i'm using 90% of it 24/7.

This is a bunch of bs.

They should charge whatever necessary in order to maintain their infrastructure.

They want $15k to upgrade it now.

Just forget it...look for a warehouse with cheaper industrial 3-Phase power...much better and cheaper than 15k...

[jparsley]

Burn of wires as far as the power station is a bad sign(maybe old equipment). U should start looking for alternative power sources